Science Advocacy
Science Advocacy
Yes, it’s May the 4th, and we mild-mannered nerds here at UseYourBrain! are just as excited as you are for all the geekiness that comes with this most hallowed of nerd holidays, so we thought we would celebrate by exploring a few burning (pun!) questions most often posed by the Star Wars universe:
One of our favorite cell biology-based joke comics. If you know the source, let us know!
The Internet Asks: What is zero minus any number?
Source: Yahoo Answers
Science’s Answer: It’s the negative of that number. For example: 0 – 7 = -7, 0 – 223 = -223, 0 – (-462) = 462, or a boy has zero apples and the bank repossesses his apple orchard containing 50 trees, each with 100 not-quite-ripe apples on them, then he has -5000 apples, and some very angry investors.
The Internet Asks: “What is the penalty for blowing up the moon?”
Source: Yahoo Answers
Science’s Answer: Please don’t blow up the moon. Keep in mind that the moon is held in place by the earth’s gravity, so some of the pieces of the moon (those that are accelerated towards the earth’s surface after you blow it up) will shower down on all of us. If the human race survives, I think it’s fair to say you will be in a lot of trouble.
The Internet Asks: Can radiation really give humans mutant powers like in the comics?
Source: Quora.com
Science’s Answer: Please don’t expose yourself to radiation in an attempt to gain mutant powers. Just don’t do it – I can’t stress this enough. People are exposed to radiation all the time, mostly natural sources like ultraviolet radiation from the sun or radon from the earth, but also man-made sources like x-rays, and nuclear waste. These people never get super powers. Do you know what they get? They get cancer. And that’s not a superpower, despite what you might have learned from “The Fault In Our Stars.”
